Pasteboard container.



F. H. HOUGHLAND. PASTEBOARD CONTAINER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. II. 19H.

1,288,895., Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

.FBAHK E. HOUGHLAND, 0F CINCINNATI, OHIO.

PASTEBOABD CQNTAINEB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 24, rats.

Application filed September 11. 1917. Serial No. 190,800.

To a?! whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK H. Honounmo, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pasteboard Containers, of .which the following is a specification.

The particular improvement at which the invention aims is to provide a pasteboard container which is closed on its sides and open at its ends, the ends being closed by a plurality of flaps all of which at either end are interlocking.

Another feature of the invention resides in the particular arrangement whereby the lock formed by the flaps is caused to be secured by pressure from within the container against the locked flaps. This arrangement also permits the flaps to be readily released when the pressure from the outside is directed thereagainst.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container made of paper or pasteboard which is adapted to contain a second container, the latter being designed to hold the articles which the invention is intended to inclose for transportation. The container is capable of being securely locked by means of the flaps referred to, thus making it particularly serviceable for use in mailing parcel post packages which the Government does not permit to be sealed.'

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device of this character which is simple in construction, durable and effective in operation and .which can be manufactured at small cost.

Other and further features of the invention will be made apparent as the detail description of the device progresses.

To the exact construction herein shown and. described, the invention is not to be confined. Certain desirable changes may be made manifest by the actual reduction to practice of the invention and the right is claimed to make any which do not deviate from the scope of the annexed claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the con tainer showing one end open and the inside container pro ecting therefrom.

Fig. 2 is a. section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the container closed.

Fig. I is a section on the line -l--l of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown the container 1 which is made in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having the end flaps 2, 3, 4, and 5, each of mvhich is connected with one of the four sides.

The container is made from a single blank cut and so formed that it may provide the four sides of the container, the edge of the fourth side having formed thereon a projecting strip 6 which overlaps the edge of the first side and is secured thereto by pasting or any other satisfactory method of attachment.

Each of the flaps referred to is an integrat part of its attendant side, the blank being folded where the flap and side connect, so that the flaps may be turned down to close the end of the container. a width equal to the width of the container but it lacks in height by a slight amount the height of the container. 011 the upper edge this flap 4 is recessed a specified distance below the upper edge, the recess being centrally disposed with reference to the ends of the flap, so that the projections 7 may be formed at either end.

The two side flaps 3 and 5 are of a height equal to the height of the container but have a width slightly less than half the .width of the container. These flaps have the general plan of a right angle triangle whose longer leg adjoins the side of the container and whose shorter leg lies adjacent the top of the container when the flaps 3 and 5 are turned in. An addendum 8 modifies this triangular shaped formation, the former having a straight edge 9 lying parallel with the longer leg of the triangle and a curved edge 10 which begins at the straight edge 9 and curves upwardly to a point where it connects with the hypotenuse of the triangle. This arrangement leaves a tongue 11 attached to the flap.

The two flaps 3 and 5 are identical but one is reversed with reference to the other because of their being connected to opposite sides of the container and required to fold down in opposite directions on the end of the container.

The flap 2 which is connected to the top of the container has the shape of an isosceles trapezoid whose longer base obtains where the flap connects with the top of the container. An oval shaped addendum 12 connects with the shorter base of the. trapezoid, the ends of this oval extending beyond the ends of the shorter base so as to underhang the diagonal sides of the trapezoid.

\Vhen the side flaps 3 and 5 are turned down to their proper positions, the points where the curved edges 10 adjoin the diagonal edges are intended to be that distance apart which is equal to the width of the flap 2 between the points where the oval shaped addendum 12 adjoins the latter. hen the flaps 2 and r are turned down to their proper positions, the. line connecting the two points where the oval shaped addendum 12 adjoins the flap (which line is the shorter base of the isosceles trapezoid) is designed to register with the bottom edge of the recess before referred to as being cut in the flap 4.

In closing the container after it has been packed with the goods desired to be transported, the flap t. is first turned up. Then the two flaps 3 and 5 are laid down against this flap, the tongues 11 being inserted behind the flap -t at the bottom of the recess therein. The flap 2 is then turned down, its addendum 12 being inserted behind the. flap 1 and the projecting ends of this addendum being made to engage behind the flaps 3 and 5 at the points where their curved edges 10 adjoin the diagonal edges of these flaps.

It will be observed that by means of this arrangement all four of the flaps are securely interlocked and any pressure from within the container and directed against these interlocked flaps will tend to secure them in the locked position. since all four flaps will be forced outward and the projecting ends of the addendum 12 will form a hook connection with the tongues 11 of the side flaps, the flap 4 preventing the addendum from "buckling and thereby securing the hooked engagement thus effected.

To unlock the container, it is preferable to stand it on one end. Then the two flaps 3 and 5 can be depressed by the thumbs. this operation tending to depress all of the flaps and thereby breaking the hooked engage-v ment that obtained between the addendum 12 and the tongues 11. The several flaps may then be thrown back to expose the contents of the container.

In the drawings there is shown a second or supplementary container which is designed to slide within the principal container which is the subject of this invention. This supplementary container may be of any convenient form and open on one side if desired. The articles to be transported are. placed in this supplementary container and the latter inserted in the main container after which the end flaps of the latter are closed, the ends of the supplementary container then pressing against the flaps of the outside container and keeping these flaps securely held in the locked position.

The invent-ion having been described, what is claimed as new and useful is:

A pasteboard container having a top, bottom and sides and open at one end, and having a set of interlocking closure flaps for the said open end, the said set comprising a flap folded upwardly from the bottom and of a wid'thequal to the width of the container, th is flap being recessed on its free longitudinal edge to provide upstanding projections adjacent its side edges, a flap folded downwardly from the top and having the shape of an isosceles trapezoid and further having an oval shape addendum connecting with the shorter base of the trapezoid, the said addendum at either end extending laterally beyond the said shorter base, and a flap folded inwardly from each side, the said latter flaps having inclined bottom edges and each having a depending tongue formed where the said inclined edge and top edge would otherwise meet, whereby the two side flaps may be folded down against the bottom flap to have their tongues inserted behind the bottom flap at the recessed portion of the latter. so that the top flap may be folded down against 'the side flaps to have its addendum inserted behind the bottom flap at the recessed portion of the latter, the laterally extending ends of the. addendum engaging in the throats formed at the junction of the inclined bottom edges of the side flaps with the depending tongues of the latter.

In testimony whereofI attix my signature.

FRANK H. HOUGHLAND. 

